In today""s mobile society it is often necessary for families to transport young children to settings where play items are not available. Parents of young children who have had the experience of waiting for a doctor or dental appointment, or for a seat in a restaurant or airport can understand the difficulty in attempting to distract and entertain a child until the wait is finished. In addition, there are times when travelling with a young child on vacation or for work purposes is necessary.
When unable to entertain themselves through play, young children can become intractable, unhappy and, ultimately, disruptive. It is embarrassing and frustrating when the child becomes irritable and disruptive. Further, there may not be an opportunity to leave the environment with the child. Sometimes a laundry basket of toys is on hand. Unfortunately, many of such toys have long outlived their purpose and require adults to find missing or mismatched pieces, which, if present at all, are always on the bottom of the basket.
Consequently, there is a need for a child friendly transportable play center that creates a learning and entertaining environment for young children, and allows for the securing and storage of an ample variety of play items.
The present invention is directed to a portable play center having a center housing that defines a center cavity and a pair of side housings that are hingedly attached to opposite sides of the center housing. The pair of side housings each define a side cavity and are rotatable between an open position providing access to the center cavity and each of the side cavities and a closed position preventing access to the center cavity.
The transportable play center of the present invention may further include a child interest device. The child interest device may include at least one pouch or mesh pocket releasable attached to one of the side housings. The child interest device may also include at least one Velcro(copyright) tab or snap device mounted on one of the side housings. The child interest device may also include at least one shelf in the center housing having a transparent sliding door providing access to the shelf Further, the child interest device comprises at least one shelf, in one of the side housings, having a transparent sliding door providing access to the shelf. The child interest device may also include a removable drawer unit contained in the center storage cavity. The transportable play center may further include a tabletop slidably received in the center housing.
The transportable play center of the present invention may also include side housings that each have a side housing depth and a side housing width and the center housing has a center housing depth and center housing width and wherein the side housing depth is about two-thirds the center housing depth and the combined side housing width is about the same as the center housing width.
The transportable play center may also have a pair of wheels located on the center housing, adjacent to the floor for transporting the play center and may also have a handle attached to the center housing. Still further, the transportable play center may be constructed of plastic, or like materials.
The present invention is also directed to a transportable play center that has a center housing defining a center cavity. The transportable play center also has a pair of side housings hingedly attached to opposite sides of the center housing. The pair of side housings each define a side cavity and are rotatable between an open position providing access to the center cavity and each of the side cavities and a closed position preventing access to the center cavity. The transportable play center may also include a tabletop slidably received in the center housing. The transportable play center also includes at least one shelf that has a transparent sliding door that is located in the center housing above the tabletop. The transportable play center also contains at least one drawer unit removably received in the center housing below the tabletop.
The tabletop may further contain at least one leg adapted to be folded under the tabletop when the tabletop is stored in the center housing. The tabletop may also be equipped with flat rail attachments capable of mounting a building set base. The tabletop may also include a snap-on base capable of holding drawing related devices.
The transportable play center may have at least one pouch releasable attached to one of the side housings, Further, the transportable play center may have at least one shelf in one of the side housings and having a transparent sliding door providing access to the shelf.
Further, the transportable play center may contain a pair of wheels located on the center housing, adjacent to the floor for transporting the play center, which may have a securing means to act as stoppers for the wheels, locking them in place. The transportable play center may also have at least one handle, for assisting in transporting the center, on the center housing. The transportable play center may be constructed of plastic, or like materials.
The transportable play center may also include a net pouch removably attached to the inside of one of the side housings. The net pouch may be constructed of mesh, and may be either small or large, capable of storing large or small toys or other items of various shapes and sizes.
Still further, the transportable play center may include side housings that each have a side housing depth and a side housing width and may include the center housing that has a center housing depth and center housing width. The side housing depth is about two-thirds the center housing depth and the combined side housing width is about the same as the center housing width.